Squirrels again

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Farmer Matt

I have rabbit problem's, they eat 2 150ft row's of Broc.

I feel your pain

Before my yard was fenced and the neighborhood was built up I had problems with rabbits. I'll warn you right now they just love young English pea plants and will mow them down to the ground. I was out of town one weekend years ago and came back to find my large bed of peas completely gone. It looked like someone had taken a lawn mower set really low and gone over the bed.

[b54red]

The squirrels are back to eating my tomatoes as soon as they blush now that they have no brocoli, cauliflower, cabbage or Brussel sprouts left to eat. Oh well the cold weather will soon end the tomatoes but I do have some really nice greenies left.

[wmontanez]

I had squirrels problems this year for the first time. First they discovered my beefsteak tomatoes one day it hit 98F here in MA. Then after that I lost more than 30 tomatoes. They just put their teeth mark as soon as they were blushing. I guess I would not be upset if they eat it but they don't... All the time I have been attributing the lost brassicas to a woodchuck that last year ate my lettuces (got caught on tape while doing it) But now I learn squirrels also eat broccoli too! My plants had all the center growth eaten early on and they never grew after that.

The most heartbreaking part was that my corn! It was ready to pick and I came home from work to find my strawberry popcorn mowed to the ground. All 40 plants + ears gone. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, only the stump was there, not even residue of the ears. My sweet corn was almost all lost but 5-8 ears from about 20 plants, I saw one squirrel going up the stalk, taking the ear, I ran to the garden but was already late. I took the last few ears as they were.

Last year I only had a minor issue with the woodchuck that breach the fence and after I found the gap and got repaired it wasn't able to go into the garden. I ate lots of tomato and sweet corn without any problems.

I am now planning what to do. I plan to plant garlic and onion where the tomatoes was this year, they did not like them as far as I could tell and cowpeas were the corn was...I read that hot peppers are deterant so maybe I would prepare some peanut butter+capsaicin balls for them to eat I even though of electric fence? But a BBgun sounds appealing too

[b54red]

I've got an electric fence and it does not deter them. The hot peppers are great but they are no deterrent either; I have 4 Uyababa hot peppers 7 feet tall and loaded right beside where I planted my broccoli. Traps only work once or twice and then they get wise to them and won't get in them anymore. I caught one last year and have had one or two set constantly since then with no luck. I looked out last spring to see two squirrels standing on top of one of my traps so they could get to the nice broccoli on either side of the trap. The bb gun works but I'm having trouble thinning them out faster than they reproduce around here. I usually grow my broccoli and similar crops in the fall and winter here because of the milder temps we have but this year it is looking grim. I have new plants ready to set out but I fear it is getting a little late to have much luck even if I can get rid of a few more squirrels. Good luck, you'll need it once they find your garden and start feeding in it they keep coming back.

[dice]

Prairie Falcons eat ground squirrels out in the midwest and west.
Peregrines will supposedly eat a variety of wild game: birds,
rabbits, squirrels, mice, etc. Looking online, red-tailed hawks
and kestrels seem to be popular with falconers.

I would guess that becoming a falconer is a fair amount of
work, though.

Squirrel hawking:
http://www.onlinefalconry.com/squirrel.htm

A forum on same:
http://apfalconry.★★★★★★★★★.com/inde...quirrelhawking

The Sport of Falconry:
http://www.avianweb.com/falconry.html

[PaulF]

Check your State's game relocation laws before you relocate. Many do not allow relocation more than 200 or 300 yards which does no good at all. My State allows pests to be shot or trapped and euthanized. Squirrels have never bothered my gardens, but really used to enjoy the bird feeders. For some odd reason they have not been at the birdseed or suet for two years. Do they have genetic ingraining and remember that 40 of their number got shot three years ago while on the feeders?

We have reds, browns, grays, blacks (a mutation of the common red) and every once in a while we get a visit from a flying squirrel colony established at a State Park just a few miles south of us.

So long as the pesky devils stay off the bird feeders they are safe; if squirrels ever get into the garden, the .22 comes out again.

[b54red]

Well I set out the last of my plants of brocolli etc. so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So far they have only eaten a few of my lettuce plants. I guess they prefer something a little more substantial.

Paul I have a friend who has a garden a few miles away and he has a lot of squirrels around; but for some reason they don't seem to bother his plants. I never had a problem with squirrels until a few years ago. I've been gardening in the same location for 35 years and have no idea why they started eating up my garden and I hope they will stop as suddenly as they began.